Okay, I’m kinda losing interest. Don’t worry, I’m not going to drop this show any time soon, otherwise I won’t have anything to review week after week. But whereas last week left me excited for what was next, this week gave me cause to be mildly concerned.

Mostly, it’s the exposition that’s troubling me. There’s just too much of it. Not a minute goes by where the main character isn’t explaining something to the others, as well as the audience. Or at least it feels that way to me. He is the definitive exposition device for this series, and because of it he lacks any personality traits that could help me actually remember his name.

Haruhiko Ichijo. I had to look that up, and although my memory isn’t what it used to be, it should still be able to remember the name of the main character after two episodes. And it’s not like the creators don’t know he’s boring. The other characters in the show often comment and cut him off from rambling about the details of the world, calling every piece of information he dishes out as “useless trivia”.

And it really is useless. I could easily do without knowing the origins of their powers or why they have to chant something whenever they use their power. In fact, I’d be better off with that because the explanations feel like they’ve been added after the fact. As if they’re justifications for why things are how they are.

But it doesn’t need to justify itself. I was enjoying myself just fine when it was fighting and fanservice with self-aware comedy on the side. Substance can come later on down the road, but right now I want to learn more about these characters, not this world. But aside from what I want, the exposition is so bluntly executed that I could not care either way.

Since I went on for four paragraphs about what was wrong with this show, let’s look at the positives, shall we? The visuals were great, as usual. I actually keep a tally on when I’m not visually invested in the show, and thankfully this week’s episode racked up a solid 1. It’s always fun to watch Mai kick into action, and this episode was no different. I’m even okay with the body feel-up chant that she does. It hasn’t really aroused me at all, but I can only hope that it’s getting someone off in this wonderful world that we live in.

And of course, Reina Izumi is fantastic. A strong contender for waifu of the season.

+ Self groping

+ Entertaining action

+ Izumi Reina

– EXPOSITION!!!

– Boring main character

– Focus on world, rather than characters